The space between worlds
by Kaiyo No Hime
Summary: movie spoliers contained Al is sick in his brother's world, and sick in his own as well. Why?


A bit of a warning, this does contain spoilers for the movie. So, if you haven't seen the movie, please consider yourself warned. Actually, if you haven't seen the movie, I'm not sure if this fic will even make sense to you. So I guess that's another reason to not read this fic unless you've seen the movie! .

I apologize in advance if the html looks odd on anyone's computer. Unfortunatly, getting html to work properly on this web site take far more tinkering than it should, as some of the tags that are claimed to be allowed are actually disabled, and skrew up the look of a fanfic. But I should have, hopefully, fixed that by working around the problem with simpler tags. And duct tape. Lots and lots of duct tape.

Also: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist in any way, shape, or form.

So, without further adieu, please enjoy my fanfiction!

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**The space between worlds **

**by Kaiyo no Hime**

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"How is he?"

"Still the same," Winry whispered, placing his hand back on the sheet.

Mustang glared out the window, watching the sun dance in the leaves of the trees outside.

"The doctors say that he's probably just living out his dream world," Winry sighed, brushing some of Al's hair to the side.

"Damn you, Ed," Mustang cursed under his breath, "You should never have come back."

* * *

Al sighed, looking away from his brother. 

"Al, is something wrong," Ed asked, turning to look at his younger brother.

"No, brother, everything is just fine," Al smiled wanely, looking up at the clock, "You'd better hurry if you want to be on time for Nao."

"Shit, you're right," Ed cursed, running from the room, "Thanks Al!"

"No problem, brother," Al sighed, still not being able to shake the feeling that something was wrong.

He shouldn't be there.

"Al, please, wake up," the voice drifted softly through the room.

"Winry," Al asked, looking around.

"Please, Al, we all miss you," the voice sobbed.

"Winry!" Al screamed, clutching at his head as he sank to his knees, "Winry,"

The room spun, and flung him aside, throwing him into the dark parts of the back of his mind.

* * *

Winry sat outside the room, crying, as the doctors rushed around inside. 

"How bad is it," Scheska asked, sitting down next to her friend.

"His heart," Winry sobbed, "His heart stopped beating. They don't know why."

"I'm sure they'll make it better, they're good doctors, Winry," Scheska whispered, "The best there are."

"He's getting worse, Scheska," Winry cried, "What if he doesn't get better. What if he doesn't wake up?"

Scheska began crying too, then, unable to provide any words of comfort.

* * *

"Al, Al, can you hear me?" 

Al blinked his eyes slowly, looking up.

"Ed," he asked, looking over at his brother, "What happened?"

"That was what I was going to ask you," Ed smiled, "You started screaming for Winry, and then you just collapsed."

"Oh, he's awake," Nao smiled, putting down a basin of water, "Glacier was beginning to worry."

"Al, what's wrong," Ed asked, looking back at his brother.

"I'm sorry, brother," Al whispered, looking away, "I don't belong here."

"What do you mean, of course you belong here," Ed laughed, "You're my brother, I wouldn't throw you out just because you're sick!"

"You don't understand, brother," Al smiled back, "I don't belong here. I can here Winry calling for me. They need me back."

"What do you mean," Ed asked, his eyes going wide as he began to shake his brother, "Al, no, you're on this side of the gate, you can't hear Winry! It's all in your mind!"

"I'm sorry Ed," Al's eyes fading as he looked over at his brother, "I'll miss you."

"Al, Al, AL!"

* * *

"Al," Winry cried, clutching at the young alchemist's hand. 

"Hey, Winry," Al smiled, looking over at the blonde woman.

"Al, you're awake, you're finally awake," Winry cried, hugging the blonde dearly, "We were beginning to give up hope."

"I was always going to come back," Al smiled, "I just didn't expect to come back so soon."

"Al," Winry asked, pulling away, "What do you mean?"

"I transfigured Greed and Wrath into a shell for my soul," Al explained, nodding to Mustang as he entered the room, "That way I could go across the gate with Ed, and come back later if I needed to."

"You're as stupid as your brother," Mustang glared.

"It worked though," Al protested, "I was only going to say goodbye. But then, I got so caught up that I kept putting off my return."

"You mean that you didn't want to come back," Mustang corrected.

"No, really," Al protested, "I was just going to stay until after Ed's wedding!"

"Ed's wedding," Winry asked, tears gathering in her eyes.

Al nodded, "Ed and Noa are getting married in a few days. It should be great, everyone will be there!"

Winry got up, and ran from the room, leaving Al staring at her in shock. He hadn't thought that Winry still harbored her crush on Ed, not after knowing that he would never come back to this world.

"Your heart stopped beating, you know," Mustang said, drawing Al's attention away from the door, "A body can't survive without a soul."

"Oh," Al whispered, "I hadn't thought of that."

"You didn't think of anything, apparently, but yourself," Mustang said, glaring at Al.

"I am sorry, but I missed my brother," Al explained, "And I got all of my memories of the journey back!"

"That's good," Mustang said with a nod after a long pause, "But people on this side of the Gate would have missed you as well."

"I won't do that again, I can't," Al said, "My body on that side is gone, it couldn't sustain itself for so long with just part of a soul."

"Good," Mustang turned to leave the room, "I expect a full report in the morning."

"Yes sir," Al sighed, looking back out the window, "I'm sorry, brother, I really did try to be there for you as long as possible. But you have Nao, now, so you don't need me," Al whispered, tears streamig down his face as he looked out into the world, "This is my world, and I have to help it survive while you thrive in yours."

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Yes, I know, it was corny and over the top. But I liked it, a little bit. Enough for me to write out, anyway. 

As always, please leave a review.


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